Beth Shields "Happiness" Acrylic and Graphite on Raw Canvas, Oversized Minimalist Abstract in Beige, Santa Cruz California Art, Statement Artwork

Details

Description

In this oversized minimalist abstract in acrylic and graphite on raw canvas by Santa Cruz artist Beth Shields, a broad … Read more In this oversized minimalist abstract in acrylic and graphite on raw canvas by Santa Cruz artist Beth Shields, a broad taupe ground fills the canvas and carries only a handful of marks: a heavy block of white at the center, a patch of mustard yellow nearby, and scribbled black graphite shapes to either side that look like a private shorthand. A few pale lines trail away and small white drips fall from the block. The openness is deliberate, and the painting is quiet, even at six feet tall. Beth Shields has said she looks for the resting place called done, and this canvas shows that restraint. Acrylic and graphite sit on raw canvas, and the ground is allowed to be the main color.

At more than six feet wide, it commands a sofa wall, a bedroom wall, a dining room or a spa-like bath. The sand, white and mustard sit easily with greige upholstery, pale oak, plaster and warm wood paneling, and the black marks pair with dark metal. It is a peaceful oversized piece for a room that wants space to breathe.

Acrylic and graphite on raw canvas, 82 x 72 x 1.5 in (208.3 x 182.9 x 3.8 cm).

Beth Shields paints in acrylic on raw, unprimed canvas, letting the bare weave show through as part of the composition. Color is laid in as broad scraped or brushed masses, then drawn into with graphite, splattered, and left to drip. Graphite scribbles and fine lines give the work a draftsman's immediacy, and the sandy tone of the canvas becomes the ground of the picture.

Beth Shields is an abstract painter based in Santa Cruz, California, where she has lived and worked for more than thirty years, with a studio at the Tannery Arts Center. She grew up in Southern California and earned her BA in painting, sculpture and graphic arts from UCLA in 1976. She has said she knew from her first remembered thought that she wanted to draw and paint.

Her work has been collected by corporations including IBM, Visa USA and Metropolitan Life, and by hotels from the Bel Air Hotel to Hilton, Hyatt and Marriott properties worldwide. She has exhibited widely in California, including juried exhibitions at the Monterey Museum of Art, and has taken part in the Santa Cruz County Open Studios tour for three decades. She describes her painting as a search, and one that rewards risk. See less